Saskatoon

Heavy rain floods some Saskatoon streets

Some neighbourhoods are cleaning up Monday after a weekend downpour caused flash floods on some Saskatoon streets.

Sunday's rainfall estimates range from 22.9 mm to 39.1 mm

A couple of people wade into flooded residential streets on a cloudy day.
Heavy rain on the weekend caused flooding across Saskatoon, including Main Street in Saskatoon's Greystone Heights neighbourhood on Sunday. (Submitted by Elly-Jean Nielsen)

Some Saskatoon neighbourhoods are cleaning up Monday after a weekend downpour caused flash floods on some streets.

Neighbourhoods such as Forest Grove, Greystone Heights and Varsity View were hit hard as overloaded storm drains struggled to keep pace with heavy rainfall.

Environment Canada and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) measured 22.9 millimetres of rain at the Diefenbaker Airport on Sunday. Volunteer reports from the CoCoRahS mapping system on Sunday measured 39.1 millimetres in the city.

On Monday, residents in the Forest Grove neighbourhood were cleaning up after significant flooding on Spruce Drive. Some front yards had lines of debris left behind by receding water that show how high the water got Sunday night.

WATCH | Heavy rainfall triggers flash flooding in Saskatoon: 

Heavy rainfall triggers flash flooding in Saskatoon

9 hours ago
Duration 1:22
It was a rainy Sunday in Saskatoon that resulted in some flash flooding around the city. In some areas, storm sewers could not keep up, turning entire streets into lakes. Environment Canada said almost 23 millimetres of rain fell in the city on Sunday.

In Varsity View, Audrey Mowchenko said she watched the rain flow into a nearby large pit at an intersection where crews were digging to replace sewer and water pipes.

"It just rained so hard and filled the entire pit," Mowchenko said.

"It was quite concerning for a while and a lot of the neighbours came out and stood around chatting about it. We were worried about our sewers backing up."

She said it appears the flooding caused more of a mess than any serious damage.

Varsity View residents are used to flooded streets, but a new storm pond being built at nearby Cumberland Park should fix drainage issues during a deluge, Mowchenko said.

The rain was followed by lightning storms and tornado warnings. There is one report of a land spout tornado touching down near Saskatoon on Sunday.

Rainstorms also walloped other parts of the province on the weekend. Some communities near Swift Current received more than 50 millimetres of rain on Saturday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeremy Warren is a reporter in Saskatoon. You can reach him at jeremy.warren@cbc.ca.